SHO runs the show at six while YOH stuck at the bottom of the pile
Best of the Super Jr. 28 hit Nagano on November 18, with SHO ending the night the only undefeated member of the league on six points, and former partner YOH the only entrant to stay winless.
The main event of the evening saw Master Wato face El Desperado. One year on from rolling up Desperado and almost costing the masked man his ultimate spot in the final, Wato was eager to show Despe that he belongs in the junior heavyweight mix, and showed his improvements with sustained control in the first five minutes. Desperado would leverage Wato to the outside though, and uncorked a big right hand slap, before setting to work on the knee.
Wato fought through the pain to land a tope con giro, and kept sticking and moving before a low dropkick back to the knee. The tenacious Wato nonetheless countered Despe into a double arm submission, and then Receientemente for two, but a missed RPP opened the door for Numero Dos. Wato found the ropes, and struck with some vicious kicks, but when a TTD attempt was countered, the turning point of the match had been reached.
Desperado struck with a spinebuster, and Guitarra Del Angel. Wato blocked the Pinche Loco, and nearly rolled Desperado up for the second year in a row, but the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion found Numero Dos again to finally get on the scoreboard.
Hiromu Takahashi found himself trying to slow the impressive momentum that Yoshinobu Kanemaru had accrued against El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori in Korakuen earlier in the week. Jumping Hiromu on his entrance, ‘Uncle ‘Nobu’ quickly set to work on Takahashi, and locked in a Figure Four on the floor as he tried to milk a 20 count.
Kanemaru stayed on the knee for the first ten minutes of the bout before a hobbled but undaunted Hiromu fired back with a shotgun dropkick. As the Time Bomb was slowed half a step, he would find himself caught on a tijeras and spiked with a powerbomb, but responded with a pop up bomb to Kanemaru in kind. Takahashi couldn’t find sustained momentum though, and again found himself suffering in the grips of the Figure Four . Takahashi was on the back foot, but thought fast as Kanemaru went for a moonsault, and won with an ‘as yet unnamed Hiromu Roll’.
Taiji Ishimori took on Robbie Eagles in Nagano. Both evenly matched, it was clear that each wanted to submit the other in the early going; when a frustrated Ishimori took to the floor, Eagles would follow, but the Bone Soldier took advantage and worked the neck and shoulder.
Eagles would fire back in spectacular form with a tope con giro, and went to the knees with the Ron Miller Stretch, but Ishimori would find a shoulder buster. Countering Cipher Utaki, and doing all he could to escape Ishimori’s submission clutches with strikes and roll-ups, Eagles ultimately fell foul to La Mistica, and then the Bone Lock for the Ishimori submission win.
SHO’s unbeaten streak continued against Ryusuke Taguchi. Taguchi gestured to the entrance as the bell sounded, assuming his opponent’s HOUSE OF TORTURE cohorts would be in tow: when they didn’t show up, SHO tried to jump the Coach from behind, but big match Taguchi struck, and landed a B-Trigger. An apron punt later though, and SHO was in control as Taguchi was flung from pillar to post on the floor.
When Taguchi resisted a German suplex, the Hip Attack scored, and even had the confidence to address the fans on the mic as he delivered a well deserved spanking to the Murder Machine. A spear for SHO would slow taguchi’s momentum, but not stop it, as a Gordbuster saw Taguchi set up for and then hit the Bummer Ye. Yet SHO would counter a Dodon attempt and land a big German suplex, and when Taguchi put him in Oh My and Garankle, would kick the Coach into the referee. With the ref down, Taguchi again suspected HOUSE OF TORTURE would get involved, but instead it was a low blow and a shot with a wrench from SHO that set up the match winning Shock Arrow.
In stark contrast to his former partner, YOH’s torrid start to the BOSJ continued against BUSHI. A premature attempt at a dive to the floor saw BUSHI dropkick out the knee and take advantage on the floor. YOH battled back, and had BUSHI struggling in the Stargazer before a thrust kick swatted the masked man mid air on an MX attempt. The DNV followed, and YOH looked for Direct Drive, but would find himself countered with a BUSHI Roll for yet another loss.
The first match of the night saw El Phantasmo hand DOUKI his first loss. DOUKI flew early to ELP with a tope suicida, but when he looked for Daybreak, would find Phantasmo’s suspect boot buried into his gut. DOUKI would have his midsection worked over, but still threw caution to the wind with a quebrada as ELP tweaked his ankle on landing, negating Sudden Death. Ultimately though, a superplex was rolled through into the UFO neckbreaker, and CR II to get Phantasmo on the board.
